Plants 60-90 cm tall. Stipe reddish purple, 30-45 cm × 3-4 mm, lustrous; scales brownish, lanceolate; lamina oblong-ovate, 30-45 × 16-26 cm, 2-pinnate, herbaceous when dry, abaxially sparsely pilose, adaxially glabrous; rachis reddish purple. Pinnae 4 or 5 pairs, basal pair largest, oblong, 15-25 × 7-15 cm, stalks 2-3 cm, pinnate; lateral pinnules 2 or 3 pairs, broadly lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, stalked or sessile, base rounded, apex caudate-acuminate; terminal pinnule larger, with stalk ca. 1 cm. Second pair of pinnae trifoliolate, bifurcate, or simple. Third pair of pinnae lanceolate, 15-20 × 2.5-3.8 cm, base rounded, apex caudate-acuminate. Margins of pinnae and pinnules with fine, ascending teeth. Hydathodes slightly thickened, linear, extending to bases of teeth or slightly into teeth. Sori extending to 3/4 of veins.

● Forests or thickets; 400-1600 m. Gansu, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang.